The Last Gift
by Echo Hunter
Summary: ONE SHOT - Serena and Darien were inseparable as children. But now that they've grown up, how will their relationship survive?


"Serena, come inside. It's dinner time," Mrs. Luca called to her 10 year-old daughter.  
  
  
  
"Alright mom! Can Dare come too?" She stopped where she was and looked to the direction she heard her mom's voice calling from.  
  
  
  
"That's fine, just make sure he asks his mom first." The little girl's face lit up with a smile and she grabbed her best friend's hand and pulled him to his house to get permission from his mom.  
  
  
  
"Come on! We're having stroganoff tonight!"  
  
  
  
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12 years later...  
  
  
  
He looked at Serena for what must have been the thirtieth time that night and she was even more beautiful than the last time he had looked at her five seconds ago. Her small frame was standing over the stove in her parents' kitchen, cooking something to warm them up after a day of playing in the snow.  
  
  
  
This was his home now.   
  
  
  
Darien's parents had died in a horrible car accident on the main road just a few minutes from their house. A man had been speeding to escape the police and hit his parents' car in the process.   
  
  
  
At the time it had happened, Serena spent the week at Darien's apartment so she could be there to comfort him and to receive comfort for herself. Every night they fell asleep in each other's arms crying. It was then, when she was crying over the loss of his family-her surrogate family that Darien realized he loved Serena.   
  
  
  
And the way he woke up with her in his arms every morning.  
  
  
  
He and Serena's family found comfort in each other while they grieved. That was two years ago. The Luca's had taken Darien in as their own and had even given him the extra room in their house in their large basement, next to Sammy's room, Serena's younger brother.   
  
The light of the setting sun shone through the kitchen window, giving Serena an angelic glow. It was at rare, quiet times like this that he knew she really was a tenshi. That was his nickname for her. It meant "Angel" in Japanese.   
  
Darien snapped back to reality when he heard Serena's footsteps nearing the table.  
  
  
  
"Dinner's ready, your highness."   
  
  
  
As he reached to grab the bowl from her hand, he let his own linger a bit longer on hers. A flicker of an unknown something flashed in her eyes before she turned around to hide the blush she knew would come. She walked back into the kitchen to fetch a pitcher of water and some bread.  
  
  
  
"Thank you, tenshi. It smells delicious."  
  
  
  
"You're quite welcome."  
  
  
  
They were left alone while the rest of the Luca family went shopping for food. Throughout the meal, Darien whined about how unfair the numbers were in the neighborhood snow fight earlier that day.   
  
"Aww, does the baby want a cookie?" Serena laughed heartily at Darien's pouting face.   
  
"I'd like to see you stand and defend yourself against 12 children between the ages of 4 and 14!"   
  
Blonde hair swayed back and forth as Serena shook her head. "I used to, every day. This is my home remember? You're such a baby!"   
  
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They went for a drive to visit some old friends and during the car ride, she tried so hard to not think of him. And harder she tried, the more she thought of him. Serena desperately wanted to believe that all the flirting that they did meant something, but they had always acted like that and it was the way she acted around all her guy friends.   
  
'But what if he isn't doing it on purpose? What if he does that to all the other girls?'   
  
'What other girls? You're the only person he hangs out with besides the baseball team and that's only at practice,' the voice in her head answered.   
  
'Really?'   
  
'Yes!'   
  
Serena knew what other girls thought about him. She had overheard many conversations in high school about Mountain View's "Athlete of the Year," and also knew that almost every girl fantasized about being his girlfriend. Somehow, she never felt threatened by their wishes because she knew she was safe. They had 16 years of friendship behind them. No girl would ever be able to come close to having what they had.   
  
She smiled.   
  
But what would happen if he found "The One"? The One that could make him smile no matter how sad he was. The One he would come home to every night and kiss and hold and sing him to sleep.   
  
She frowned.   
  
Darien was amazed that Serena could keep herself quietly entertained for so long. 'I wonder what she's thinking about?' Little did he know her thoughts were of him.   
  
And his ebony hair.   
  
She smiled again when she remembered how she made all the girls in the locker room jealous one day. It was also the last day she heard any of them talking about her man in front of her for the rest of the semester.  
  
  
  
'My man? Since when?'   
  
'Since the first time you met.'   
  
Serena overheard a group of girls saying how they wish they could see Darien without his shirt on.   
  
"I bet he has rippling muscles under that tight baseball uniform," said one.   
  
"I'd pay good money to see that!" another added.   
  
A third, shyer voice came in. "I think I would pass out if he even said hi to me." The whole group sighed at the idea of the tall, dark, handsome man acknowledging their existence. She remembered laughing at them and how they made him sound untouchable as if he were a movie star.   
  
Or a god.   
  
Now that she thought more about it, she never really did notice how good-looking he was, until she got out of high school.   
  
"What's so funny?" Serena guessed the voice belonged to the leader of the pack.   
  
"Nothing, I'm sorry. Its just that I overheard your conversation."  
  
  
  
The next girl that spoke, Serena recognized was a girl named Ashley from her math class. "Don't you think he's gorgeous? He's the captain of the baseball team, State champion for long distance and the mile in track. I mean, what more can you ask for in a guy? I swear he's got the body of a Greek God."  
  
  
  
Serena was silent as she processed Ashley's statement. 'Gorgeous? Body of a Greek God?' "You know what? Honestly, I've never really thought about it much."   
  
"What?" 15 girls shrieked in unison. "How?"   
  
"Well," Serena started sheepishly. "He's my best friend. You don't go thinking about your best friend like that do you?"   
  
"Eww, my best friend is a girl."   
  
"Shut up, you dork!"   
  
'Please let the bell ring. Please let the bell ring,' she silently prayed.  
  
"Wait! Did you say you were his best friend?"   
  
"Have you seen him without a shirt on?" The onslaught of questions began again and Serena was more than grateful to hear the late bell ringing.   
  
"Gotta jet! I have to get going before Coach gets on my back again."   
  
"Wait! One more question. Does he have a girlfriend?"   
  
Serena laughed to herself. She was wondering when they would ask her that. In fact, it had taken them longer than she expected. Darien had never had a girlfriend for as long as she could remember. There was the occasional crush here and there, but never anything serious. The thought of him dating anyone suddenly made her feel sick.   
  
"Yup, sorry ladies." A wave of possessiveness washed over her as her first lie escaped her lips.   
  
"Aww," came the moans of Darien's fan club.   
  
Serena found it odd that she was smiling after breaking the hopes of the girls she was talking to.   
  
Why did she lie anyway?   
  
As she thought about what was wrong with her, she jogged out onto the track and began to warm up. Darien sneaked up beside her.   
  
"Who ya runnin' from?" The bass of his voice made her shiver as well as startled her, causing her to trip over an invisible rock. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, saving her from meeting the track. The scent of Calvin Klein cologne filled her nostrils making her blood rush.   
  
"Thanks, Dare."   
  
"No problem." Smiling, he whispered into her ear. "You're such a klutz and a slowpoke." His hand made contact with her bottom, causing her to yelp. "Let's see if all those doughnuts you had this morning has slowed you down any!" The challenge had been made and accepted. She took after him and within seconds she slapped him back, getting the same reaction.   
  
"Hey! That's mine!" He feigned a shocked look.   
  
"Looks like you're the one that's getting fatter, chubbo!"   
  
"Oh! You're gonna get it now!" Serena shrieked again and took off towards the large fields. She didn't see him again until lunch that day.   
  
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It was five minutes later and they were now in the parking lot of the movie theatre. Darien wound through aisles of cars but could not find an empty spot. He noticed that Serena was still off in her own little world.   
  
As he glanced at her every so often, thoughts popped up about her in his mind. 'You should tell her how beautiful she is.'   
  
"You're beautiful."   
  
"Huh?" Blue met blue.   
  
"I said penny for your thoughts. You were off in la la land again." Darien's conscious protested. 'That didn't count! She wasn't paying attention!'   
  
"Sorry." As she looked around she saw that they had reached their destination. 'Great, what am I supposed to do now?' She looked around for an escape from his question.   
  
"Look! Someone's pulling out!"   
  
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Serena was at home now, sitting on the couch with a cup of cocoa in hand and a fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It was a great movie even the second time around. She sat silently and thought about thought about the last week they had spent together and how much fun they had. Tomorrow they had to head back to the real world where school existed.   
  
Tomorrow she would get to see her roommate Kirin, whom she missed greatly. She told Kirin everything that happened in her life, especially when it came to boys. She tried to imagine what she would tell her friend when she got back. She would tell her about how she loved being home with her family and Darien and how they went to see the new movie. They would rant on about how good looking Heath Ledger was for a while. She would also tell her about the snowball fights and how she had hit her Dare several times without being hit herself.   
  
  
  
Serena sipped the last of her cocoa and looked out the snow-edged window to look one last time on the remains of the war zone. There in the yard stood the naked maple, the place she first began her assault on the world. Later, she found it wasn't the most ideal place because the branches, as large as they were, were not large enough to protect her from the white ammunition coming her way.  
  
As she thought about the tree, she remembered the many times she and Darien would sit up there and hide or talk in the enclosure of branches and leaves. Sometimes they would have PB&J picnics in the heights of the tree. It was a comfort to see it still there, surviving the years of children and torture.  
  
  
  
Remains of an ice fort stood proudly at the bottom of the yard. The people that lived across the street did not have any children but gladly surrendered their yard for the cause, where an opposing fort was built. Serena had fled to the safety of the forts many times, trying to hide from Dan's nearly perfect aim.   
  
She took another sip of hot chocolate and replayed in her mind the wars she watched from the safety of the house. Ten kids had bombarded Darien with flying snowballs and Serena had laughed until she was rolling on the ground in pain. It was so funny to watch him fail in his attempts of retaliation. After five more minutes of unsuccessful revenge, he picked up Sammy and used him as a shield until he reached the safety of the house.  
  
  
  
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"Serena West." She wasn't ashamed to put the two names together. In fact, she had done it several times before and it just felt right. She couldn't think of anyone else she would rather marry than the person who knew her better than herself. He knew everything about her and her family, which was very important to her.   
  
She tried to think of instances where he might have tried to show her that he felt anything for her besides the feelings shared between best friends. It was late and she knew that she was more emotional at night when she was tired but it couldn't be helped. Maybe it was time for bed after all.   
  
Serena uncurled herself on the couch and stood up to deposit her cup into the sink.  
  
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In another part of the house, Darien was sitting on the edge of his twin-sized bed. He knew that Serena was still awake and was probably sitting in the living room daydreaming as she did so often back at her apartment. His more common thoughts had been of their growing relationship and how she must surely be catching onto his little hints. The raven-haired man was also aware of the fact that she was very naïve, which meant she probably hadn't. As he lay down on the down pillow, midnight blue eyes looked one last time at the little present he had bought for her with the inheritance he received with his parent's death.  
  
He found it in a store one day when he was walking through the mall. As he looked at it behind its glass case, he knew Serena would love it and he would be sure to give it to her one day. As he paid for it, the man behind the counter told him it was one-of-a-kind, no one else had crafted a more beautiful treasure. In fact, all the pillowed items were one-of-a-kind and handcrafted by his father.  
  
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs told him that his angel was done thinking but he didn't know why she wanted to come to him so late. He knew Serena and that she would be exhausted. It was very late and she usually went to bed pretty early. Darien laid quietly and listened to the soft shuffle of her coming towards his room. He closed his eyes to pretend to be asleep and waited.  
  
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Serena lifted her hand to knock on the door but froze before she could do anything. With a sigh of defeat she turned around and headed back to her room. 'What was I thinking?'  
  
'Perhaps that you would open the door and he would jump up and tell you how much he loved you and that he wanted to marry you!'  
  
'Maybe.'  
  
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Strong and gentle fingers lifted the small black box off of the bedside table. Darien opened it under the moonlight that poured in through the open window. His fingers turned the small platinum band he had taken out of its velvet casing. He watched as the moon's rays softly kiss the diamond as if to christen and bless it for its destined owner.  
  
"One day, my little tenshi." 


End file.
